Joint connectors have been utilized in order to splice cables to be used in a common circuit system in a wire harness. FIG. 9 shows a conventional joint connector 1. A spliced bus bar 2, adapted to various connection configurations, is mounted in a housing 1a. A mating connector 3 is engaged with the joint connector 1 and includes a female housing 3b with a plurality of cavities 3a formed in multiple stages. A female terminal 4 is to be inserted into one of the cavities 3a. The female terminal 4 is crimped on an end of each cable W of each sub harness, which is assembled in another step. The female terminal 4 is regularly inserted into the female housing 3b as an after-insertion terminal in a step of binding the respective sub harnesses. When the female housing 3b is fitted into the housing 1a of the joint connector 1, the respective terminals 4 in the female housing 3b are interconnected in the respective common circuits through the bus bar 2.
A connector having the same construction as that of the above joint connector 1 is disclosed in Japanese Patent Public Disclosure No. HEI 8-250247 (1996).
Generally, in the general joint connector 1 described above, it is necessary to insert the respective female terminals 4, crimped on the respective ends of the sub harness, into the common female housing 3b in order to interconnect the circuits across different sub harnesses. In a step of assembling the sub harnesses, an after-insertion female terminal 4 that has not yet been inserted in the housing may appear. This will make subsequent work complicated and may give rise to damage of the female terminal 4 during transportation of the sub harnesses. Since the female terminal 4 is a complex pressed product and a lance structure is required for engaging the female terminal 4 with the female housing 3b, costs of parts will be increased. Furthermore, since an end treatment, such as stripping a sheath of a cable W or the like, and a crimping step on the terminal are required, man-hour work will be increased.